Affiance Financial LLC Raises Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Affiance Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. Affiance Financial LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 39,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,174,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 69,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,194,000 after acquiring an additional 5,308 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $242.28 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.49 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $241.23 and a 200 day moving average of $245.60. The company has a market capitalization of $68.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.